Sisters

Sisters

Monday, September 9, 2019

But our citizenship is in heaven.



But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand first in the Lord, dear friends!
  Philippians 3:20-21, 4-1


        Lily is growing, and healing.  The last year has been one of exhaling and seeing fruit.  Tomorrow will mark the day we have been hoping for.  Tomorrow will be a day of rejoicing and celebrating.  A journey finally complete and nothing but the future ahead.  God’s timing is perfect.  Even if, at times, it didn’t feel good and make sense along the way. 
        This summer Lily tried track and field.  I don’t think she realizes just how talented she is.  One day she will but for now she is experiencing life to the fullest.  Sometimes it’s hard keeping up with her spirit for life.  It’s like she was held captive in her thoughts, emotions, body, and circumstances for three plus years, and now she is exploding life.  She is making up for lost time. 
There are moments I get to experience with her, that I tuck away and treasure.  This happened during one practice a few months ago. Towards the end of season Lily was really getting the hang of track.  She was getting use to the chair, the coaches, and the track.  Lily hasn’t figured this out yet, but she is a fierce competitor.  She is and will be a force to be reckoned with.  I am sure her coach noticed this as well, and one practice she pushed her a little harder than most.  Lily was getting used to her chair on the track and man, she is fast.  About half-way through her laps I could tell she was getting tired.  Coach kept pushing her.  I could see tears were coming and about to fall.  Few more laps and they did.  She stopped came over to me and the water works began.  We talked through whether she was tired or in pain.  Anna Lee gave some encouragement on an athlete/sister level.  Her coach came over encouraged and talked through what it meant to quit or keep going.  She encouraged her not to quit and to finish.  She got herself together, got back on the track and finished.  She had the option to quit that day.  She had the option to sit in her sorrow, feel sorry for herself, or become an athlete, dig deep, and finish strong.  But what happened after that is what encouraged my momma heart.  She finished her laps and her practice.  After practice, she could have put up her chair, grabbed her stuff and left.  But she didn’t.  She finished her laps, and then she started helping put up the track and field equipment.  She helped clear the court.  She helped her teammates and coaches not only finish practice but clean up after practice.  She was learning life skills in that moment.  My seven-year-old, who came from nothing is now learning character.  She is learning how to be a good human.  She is learning how not to quit when things get hard.  She is learning how to put others first when everything in her has been engrained to fight for yourself to stay alive.  She is learning to trust.  She is learning how much she is loved, not only by us but by a Father who never left her, who’s plans are far better for her than anything we could have imagine. 
        Tomorrow Schneily Dulcema Dobson will become a United States Citizen.  A journey that we embarked on 7 years ago, before this baby was even born, will finally come to an amazing end.  The last “paperwork” step will happen.  And life for Lily will finally be secure.  I never imagined this journey of adoption would look like this for us.  But looking back now, I am so thankful for the story God wrote for Lily and for us.  The growth and learning that has come for all of us.  I often wondered why it took so long.  I can see now why it did.  Too many reasons to type and share, but I am so thankful it is happening now, instead of this time last year, or the year before, or the year before that.  Because what’s happened in this last year of our lives together as a family has been beautiful.  It’s been full of healing for all of us.  It’s been full of falling in love with a daughter the Lord knew we all needed.  It’s been full of learning to trust and love like the Father loves us.  Lily has taught us more about loving like Jesus than anything else in life.  She has changed our lives for the better.  And tomorrow we celebrate.  She becomes a citizen but that is not the most important thing that will happen in her life, yet.
        My prayer has always been that she experiences the love of Jesus and one day she accepts His gift of eternal life.  And becomes a citizen of Heaven.  Where one day she will be fully healed, fully restored, no more broken body, no more broken emotions, all because of Him.
        Tomorrow we celebrate all HE HAS DONE!  #nolimitlily You are loved, you are wanted, you are a treasure and you are HIS.
 

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